Any good media streamers coming out, or just released lately?

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First time I have heard that high end audio is not about listening and personal choice of picking different components. 😉

I think we are a bit off topic, probably best we get back to the OPs question.
Hopefully we’ve answered the original question by the 180th reply...lol
 
I know I ended up with a great music streamer out of this discussion, so it was a win for me :)
That’s why we start these discussions... congrats! I ended up with a great preamp that I’m running through my Oppo UDP-205. Going to grab a Lumin D2 to give a try. But damn that Oppo sure makes a good streamer! Too bad it doesn’t decode MQA..
 
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That’s why we start these discussions... congrats! I ended up with a great preamp that I’m running through my Oppo UDP-205. Going to grab a Lumin D2 to give a try. But damn that Oppo sure makes a good streamer! Too bad it doesn’t decode MQA..
Pl
 
That’s why we start these discussions... congrats! I ended up with a great preamp that I’m running through my Oppo UDP-205. Going to grab a Lumin D2 to give a try. But damn that Oppo sure makes a good streamer! Too bad it doesn’t decode MQA..

It appears that there are software solutions that convert MQA to FLAC.

https://www.drmare.com/tidal-music/convert-tidal-to-flac.html
What's more interesting is that Tidal actually had this conversion feature but pulled it back quickly because using this feature would allow them to lose control over the music files.

So it's very possible that there will be a Volumio plugin that takes care of this at some point.

I don't know if Spotify will adopt MQA when it offers uncompressed CD quality music later on this year. If so I imagine that more software will arrive that handles this conversion for us.

The bottom line is that this may become a very short term compatibility issue that goes away.
 
I was under the impression that the UDP-205 does decode MQA. I will give it a try and report back.
 
If you go here, you can see that the 2nd from the last firmware update specifically addresses this issue.

https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-203/blu-ray-UDP-20x-Firmware.aspx
Main Version UDP20X-60-0625 ( June of 2018 )
4. Added MQA support via the USB DAC In for the UDP-205 players. (More info can be found in the “USB DAC Firmware” section on the UDP-205 support page.)


I remember being on the fence about picking up an OPPO 205D when they first announced that they were going to discontinue the line. For a while I regretting not getting one. Now I'm at the point where my next new piece of hardware will likely be a DAC/preamp, so it is less of an issue. The 205 is still a very nice piece of hardware and I'm sure I would not have regretted purchasing it.
 
I remember being on the fence about picking up an OPPO 205D when they first announced that they were going to discontinue the line. For a while I regretting not getting one. Now I'm at the point where my next new piece of hardware will likely be a DAC/preamp, so it is less of an issue. The 205 is still a very nice piece of hardware and I'm sure I would not have regretted purchasing it.
While I wasn't really in the market for a UHD disc player, I did order a 205 as soon as they announced their demise. Now, seeing the crazy prices people are paying for them, I wish I would have bought ten of them!!! o_O
 
While I wasn't really in the market for a UHD disc player, I did order a 205 as soon as they announced their demise. Now, seeing the crazy prices people are paying for them, I wish I would have bought ten of them!!! o_O

The irony is that I could say that about many things right now. Computer equipment, sim racing equipment, flight sim equipment, etc.. have all been in high demand since Covid-19 and have frequently been selling for a substantial amount over their list prices.

In fact if I had held onto the sim racing equipment that I gave my son for Christmas a year before last and solid it last summer or fall, I could have pulled a very healthy profit on it.

Of course I could have invested that money in Tesla and made much much more over the last couple years.
 
Right now seems like it is a tumultuous time for streaming services and it may be a few years before standards shake out and software adaptations are made to use the different services in an easy way.

Personally this feels like a bad time to buy a closed solution streamer. Hopefully some of these companies will support their products long term and continue to make software updates for them to handle what is coming as it arrives. Something like a Raspberry Pi which can run any number of streaming software solutions feels a lot more nimble in this environment. It is definitely more DIY, but I would put it into the cheap and disposable category.
 
Before you read any further, go to Google and type definition: asynchronous.

So I'll say it again -
1. You can't "re-clock" unclocked data
2. You can't have jitter when the data is not timed/clocked!




I am not (and have never advocated) connecting a DAC via wi-fi.......I am using a computer (in my case, Raspberry Pi, but you can use any computer) to send bitperfect data to the DAC.

All you've got to do is get data (ALL the data) to the DAC. It is capable of doing everything else. That's what you're paying for.



The DAC is powered by its own power supply, so in this case, sure the power side of the USB may well be energised, but there is no current flow. In fact, I would expect the designers have actually "cut off" the power side of the USB cable at their input........but I don't know. All I do know is that......when I have paid what I have for my DAC, I trust the designer has taken the necessary steps to ensure the data stream is not damaged.

That's not to say my DAC is perfect. It is not. It can most certainly be bettered. I just don't think there is any economic sense in me trying to do that with little snakeoil tweaks. If I want a better DAC, I'll go out and buy........a better DAC.




You keep mentioning "jitter", but you haven't read my post above - how can you have jitter on a line that is not even clocked??

Wired connections are certainly superior in terms of stability, reliability and speed.......but it doesn't impact on sound quality. Because all the data is transferred bit-for-bit. Even high-res audio places very little stress on modern wi-fi networks.

And coax for DSD - it won't even work because it doesn't have the bandwidth for anything more than DSD64, so why on earth would you want to convert USB to coax? Why would you want to lock your DAC to a SPDIF stream when it can control the show with async? I2S yes, but how many DACs have an I2s HDMI input?

Honestly - if you think you can do better than DAC designers - If you think the heavyweight designers are missing important things that can somehow be fixed wtih cheap little tweak boxes............ by playing with these tweaks in your lounge room, I think you might be a bit misguided sorry.

You would do well to read up on what async USB connections are. (Like the actual USB-IF spec - not some pseduo audiophile company telling you everthing that is wrong with USB and how their products can miracously fix it).

You physically can't "re-clock" any data on an async USB line (and you inherently don't have jitter) becasue the line is being controlled by the DAC and it's clock. The only jitter when you use this type of connection comes from the DAC itself (and its clock)......which is present no matter how many "re-clockers" you put in between!!

So any company telling you that they are "re-clocking" an asynchronous connection is bull5hitting.......they don't even understand the basics......or common sense......and I certainly wouldn't trust them with my precious audio signal!



I wish you could "fix" USB data.......I could use one of these things to do my internet banking and get a bigger bank balance......but alas, no. USB connections are designed for bitperfect data transfer, and that is exactly what they do - whether the data represents banking, OS updates.......or even, shock horror...... music.


I'll finish by asserting that what you are doing may actually be hurting the sound......it may not be hurting the sound of course, but I think it is likely. A cheap device that is trying to send data to a DAC at its pre-defined set rate (re-clocking), when the DAC is the device that is trying to control the rate (async) would lead to some very strange scenarios........I can't predict what might be the result. But I know enough to know that I wouldn't even attempt such an absurd scenario in my system.
You’re literally confusing what USB does within a computer or related application and trying to take that same information and apply it towards audio, it’s been proven over and over again that you can not rely upon computer or electronic engineering logic and technology and try and use the same principles for accurate audio reproduction, it’s not at all the same.
I could go on and on for pages to try and best explain all the things I was trying to inform this thread so that they (and you) could achieve the best digital audio reproduction and sound quality, what you’re so far off in every direction in your beliefs, that it’s not even worth my time.
I can 100% assure you that you’re very wrong about every single one of your beliefs and if you were to get everything I’m recommending on 30 day free in-home trials and actually conduct your own A / B testing, you would discover in less than 15 minutes for yourself what I’ve attempted to explain to you. The difference in sound quality is night and day.
If you want to try and understand everything I’ve been trying to educate you about, the following link is a good place to start, it’s 719 pages long, so it will take a while to get through, and it’s literally just the TiO of the iceberg when it comes to digital and streaming audio best practices, but it’s a valid place to start!
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...y-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/
 
If what I’ve attempted to explain to you.

You most certainly haven't attempted to explain anything! That's the problem.

Please start with what I've asked you to explain now at least five times........how can you "re-clock" unclocked data?

you can not rely upon computer or electronic engineering logic and technology and try and use the same principles for accurate audio reproduction,

Why not!!!??!?? Come on.....stop avoiding the questions. You say you're trying to educate me ......so go for it, now.

Tell me why I can't rely on electronic engineering principles for audio. (But ostensibly I can for everything else in life).

I promise.......I've got an open mind. I want to listen (to you). I really do. But you've got to make the argument!!!!!

You seem intelligent and reasonable. I really do want to hear your argument. Like, a real argument - not just "you can't apply scientific principles to audio". I'm ready and waiting. That's why I'm on these forums.....to listen and learn.......I may not agree, but that's okay.....I still want to hear a cogent argument.

USB does within a computer or related application and trying to take that same information and apply it towards audio,


And now you've given me another question - How does a computer magically know to treat data (that happens to represent audio) different from any other data?


See the bitperfect test I posted above..........it proves it unequovically.

on 30 day free in-home trials

If nothing else - just think about this logically for a sec.

It'd be really cool to believe that you could go get a few pieces of cheap tweaks from Amazon and massively improve your sound quality.

But if that really was true, don't you think the DAC designers would incorporate this stuff into their designs?

They could even put a re-clocker inside their DACs!.........oh........whoops..........hang on.............what's "asynchronous" mean again?........whoops......:confused:
 
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I guess I need to ask for a refund on my Electrical Engineering degree. They didn't teach me anything that can be applied in the real world. What I needed to learn was how to deprogram people who have been brainwashed by technobabble that has zero credibility.
 
I guess I need to ask for a refund on my Electrical Engineering degree. They didn't teach me anything that can be applied in the real world. What I needed to learn was how to deprogram people who have been brainwashed by technobabble that has zero credibility.

It's okay - I think your degree is useful - electrical engineers helped design computers that got us to the moon. That keep planes in the sky every day. That design tall skyscrapers which can withstand earthquakes and high winds. That manage lifesaving surgical procedures. That run our global financial system.

It just none of it applies to audio for some reason.

(But that's okay too - it can all be fixed with a cheap "USB-Fixer", re-clocker, a non-compliant out-of-spec USB cable, and a thick, chunky ethernet cable with a really pretty jacket.)

It's like the USB-IF didn't know what they were doing - but the cheap $30 "USB-Fixer" on Amazon (or the $4899 version which is the same thing with huge metal heatsinks attached) will make all the bad stuff okay.


You know what's really bizzare? My streamer / computer can send data perfectly out of its USB socket to a "USB-Fixer", but it can't send it another 30cm along, all the way to the DAC. It just needs that USB fixer in the middle. Weird hey?
 
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